Haunting drone footage shows the utter devastation of what used to be one of Syria's largest cities

Chilling drone footage shows the terrible impact the devastating Syrian civil war has had on the city of Homs.

Located in western Syria, Homs was a stronghold for groups opposed to the Assad regime and years of fierce fighting has left the city in ruins.

Homs, highlighted in red at the top of this screenshot, is located in the west of Syria. The capital of Damascus can be seen at the bottom of this screenshot.
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Nearly 13,000 people have been killed in Homs since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, according to the Centre for Documenting Violations in Syria.

The video has not been independently verified but is similar to previous RussiaWorks productions, such as a video from January shot in the Damascus suburb of Darayya.

Speaking to Business Insider in October Boris Silberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said: "RussiaWorks is part of a slick campaign by the Kremlin to sell the war at home and project Russia as a military power.

"The videos are put together by a number of Russian war correspondents/production folks that are tied to the Kremlin and probably have a lot of time on their hands — and some good drones — to make highly edited videos."